credit: The Legend of Tarzan
The Legend of Tarzan is a relatively new installment to the ever-growing number of movies based on the character Tarzan. It was released in the year 2016. Fortunately, the movie did not flop, and at its box office, it received a revenue of nearly twice its allotted budget. The film wasn’t all that good, though, as there were mixed reviews about the movie from different rating sites.
Tarzan was not a new character in the world of movies. He first appeared in the story Tarzan of the Apes in 1912. This makes Tarzan predate the first world war. For starters, Tarzan came from a family of British elites who was ambushed off the coast of Africa. His father was attacked by an alpha ape, and his mother died.
He was adopted by the very same tribe where the alpha that killed his father came from. He was raised in the ways of the apes and learned ape skills such as swinging in vines. This was pretty much how Tarzan was known in the world – a person raised by apes, and when he met a female human (Jane), he did not know how to “act properly” at first due to his ape mannerisms.
The Legend of Tarzan followed a new and reformed Tarzan, who was now a member of the British upper class, as he reunited with his peers in Africa. He also investigated reports of slavery there. Below, we will review some of its aspects.
credit: The Legend of Tarzan
A movie about slavery and the resistance against it
The Legend of Tarzan spoke about slavery. In the opening scene, the viewers were briefed about King Leopold II accumulating huge debts from exploitation in the Congo Free State. It was personal property, as he owned it, and not the kingdom of Belgium.
It was revealed as the events went on in the film that Leopold was going to conquer all of Congo and enslave its men. However, they could not do it initially because they had run out of resources. They captured an entire village of natives so that they would have free, if not cheap, the labor they could use.
Another way slavery was expressed in the movie was during the scene on the boat with Jane. The viewers could remember having an African in a cage that they could submerge underwater for whatever reason.
The movie’s last half was about fighting against the looming slavery (and colonialism). Not wanting to be subjugated by others in the future, our heroes made sure that the villains were dead. It was not enough for them to flee after the buffaloes destroyed their camp. Tarzan even made the effort to go into their boat, killing Léon and taking the diamonds.
They had to make sure that nothing dangerous would come back, so they killed off the very thing that guaranteed the return of enslavers. They could have let them retreat because they would still be out of their lands at the end of the day. But they needed to secure their future by ensuring nothing would come back.
credit: The Legend of Tarzan
Personal hatred can lead to betrayal
In the movie, we know that Leopold was going bankrupt, so he could not mobilize a full colonialization of the Congo Free State. Why? Because the troops, of course, need to be paid. He could not go full dictator mode and force them to go to Congo without compensation because they could mutiny or not perform well.
That’s why they badly need the diamonds from Mbonga. But why was Mbonga willing to give them diamonds that could lead to the success of colonialization? Mbonga only had one thing in mind – his son. The memory of his son, who Tarzan killed, had not left him, and because he could not let go of it, he was willing to betray his people to the colonizers. He was willing to exchange the life of his country for the life of his son’s murderer.
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